Popcorn with sardines? These must be history’s 21 strangest sandwiches

From sardine-laced popcorn to a startling yeast and ketchup concoction, Jonny Wilkes explores some of the weirdest fillings that our ancestors enjoyed (or endured) in their sandwiches

A loaf of whole‑grain bread sits behind two slices, one of which has a dark liquid being poured onto it. In front of the bread, several fresh fish stand upright in a row with shiny scales and wide eyes. The background is a bright green, creating a surreal contrast between the unrelated food items.

Published: May 24, 2026 at 4:00 PM

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1. Yeast

In the 1920s, a concerted effort was made to market yeast as a yummy ingredient beyond its use in making bread and fermenting alcohol. The whole thing had been masterminded by Fleischmann’s, a commercial yeast business in the US, and worked spectacularly well as sales skyrocketed.

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It did not make yeast any tastier, though. Take this abomination of a sandwich: a yeast cake is broken up and mixed with “table sauce” (which could be tomato ketchup or Worcestershire sauce) to form a filling that looks more like plaster used on walls. It looks and tastes awful, and that’s before you even consider the distress that eating raw yeast can have on a person’s gut.

2. Banana and liverwurst

Of all the delicious possibilities that could have filled the 1931 recipe book The New Banana, questions need to be asked about how this one made the cut. The filling – mashed banana and liverwurst, mixed with tomato ketchup or chilli sauce – has an unfortunate resemblance to squished-up brains as it is smeared on buttered bread. If that doesn’t appeal, the book’s pages on sandwiches, which describes banana as a “natural mayonnaise” also suggests combining the fruit with diced ham.

A peeled banana is being sliced with a knife that has a pink handle, with several round banana slices falling in a line below. The background is split diagonally into light and dark tones. Text at the bottom reads “The NEW BANANA.”

Do you love bananas? Then look no further than this 1931 cookery book, which has all manner of banana-based recipes – including one that suggests mashing the fruit up and mixing it with liverwurst

3. Mock banana

If there is one positive for the banana and liverwurst sandwich, it at least contains real banana. During the Second World War, when imports of many foods dropped significantly, Britons had to come up with a rationing-friendly alternative for their banana sandwiches. What they devised was boiled parsnips with a splash of banana flavouring. It could have just been called a parsnip sandwich, of course.

Regardless, it actually didn’t taste that far off the mark, and it’s hardly the worst wartime food swap. During the First World War, German soldiers made their bread with sawdust and flavoured their coffee with coal tar.

4. Farmer’s egg

It’s hard to go wrong with an egg sandwich, right? Well, a recipe from 1912 put that to the test. The ‘farmer’s egg’ filling is made from egg yolks, butter and a dressing of vinegar, heated up to make it nice and creamy. Not bad at all, you may be thinking.

The problem arises with the eggs themselves: the recipe calls for them to be boiled for no less than 30 minutes, which means that by the time they come out of the pan, they give off a hideous, sulphurous smell. A different name could be the ‘farter’s egg’.

5. ‘New York’

The people of New York should be rightly proud of their sandwiches, from the chopped cheese that comes with minced beef to the pastrami on rye (film fans will recognise the latter from the iconic “I’ll have what she’s having” scene in When Harry Met Sally).

New Yorkers would want nothing to do with this gloopy mess, however – not least because it did not originate from their city at all. Published in a British recipe book in 1905, what seemingly embodied New York were raw oysters and buckets of mayonnaise in a roll.

Two people sit across from each other at a small wooden table in a busy diner, each with a sandwich, a pickle spear, and drinks. Condiments sit between them, and other diners and staff fill the lively background.

Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal in When Harry Met Sally’s most climactic scene, filmed in Katz’s Delicatessen, New York City. The diner remains a popular tourist attraction – but oyster and mayonnaise sandwiches aren’t on the menu | Credit: MovieStillsDB

6. Toast

Take two pieces of bread for your sandwich, then take another piece of bread and toast it, and finally put the cold toast in between the bread. That’s it: that’s the toast sandwich. Oh, you can add salt and pepper, too. This bland offering from Mrs Beeton’s Book of Household Management, published in the 1860s, was said to be ideal for “invalids”. It is certainly cheap and easy, but not a lot else.

7. ‘Dairy’

There have been many creations that have challenged the notion of what constitutes a sandwich. To date, the status of the hot dog as a sandwich has yet to be resolved. But a recipe book from the early 20th century tried to slip in an entirely new form of sandwich altogether. In just two lines, the ‘dairy’ recipe reads: “On thin slices of Swiss cheese, spread fresh butter and put the two slices together.” So, buttered cheese: is that a sandwich?

Do hot dogs count as sandwiches? That may be debatable, but an even less likely candidate, in our opinion, is one featured in a book from the early 1900s: two slices of buttered Swiss cheese smooshed together (Image by Getty Images)

Do hot dogs count as sandwiches? That may be debatable, but an even less likely candidate, in our opinion, is one featured in a book from the early 1900s: two slices of buttered Swiss cheese smooshed together | Credit: Getty Images

8. Popcorn

Have you ever sat in a cinema, looked down at the tub of popcorn in your lap and thought: ‘I wish there was more seafood in this?’ If so, there is a sandwich from 1909 for you.

To freshly popped popcorn, add salt, cayenne pepper, Worcestershire sauce and enough tomato ketchup to form a paste – and just before adding that to buttered toast and melting some parmesan on top, throw in a handful of sardines. The result is a strangely crunchy yet mushy texture.

Also, don’t take this along to the cinema, as you may stink out the screen.

9. Salmonburger tropicale

Throwing in the word ‘tropicale’ suggests that the creators of this sandwich wanted to evoke a certain exoticism, as if it could be eaten on the beach along with a cocktail served in a coconut. The result is barely edible, let alone exotic.

Canned salmon, pickle relish, salt and lemon juice is placed on a burger bun with a pineapple ring, then cheese on top and the whole thing stuck under the grill. It comes from the 1957 recipe book, Turn to Sandwiches, although it’s more likely to turn people away from sandwiches for good.

A vintage 1950s advertisement shows a round wooden table covered with blue plates holding different sandwiches, including club, grilled cheese, submarine, and open‑faced styles with various fillings. A leafy green plant sits on the table. Text reads “turn to sandwiches” and “© Copyright 1957 American Institute of Baking.”

In truth, some of the recipes contained within the 1957 book Turn to Sandwiches are probably more likely to turn people off sandwiches

10. ‘Goblin’

Don’t be put off by the name (actually, maybe you should be): the goblin sandwich appeared in a small booklet titled How to Run a 1946 Halloween Party. The main thing to remember is that this was published by the Doughnut Corporation of America, so every food option includes, you guessed it, doughnuts.

The goblin has a filling of ground-up Brazil nuts, devilled ham, avocado and Worcestershire sauce, which goes in the middle of a split doughnut. That’s something ugly enough to merit that name.

11. Mashed potato

Just think of the amount of carbs there must be in a mashed potato sandwich. If you’re still tempted to make one, ignore the bland 1909 version – which amounts to plain diced potato on brown bread – and try the creation of Singin’ in the Rain star Gene Kelly.

Described as “the greatest man sandwich in the world”, it consists of buttered baguette, a thick layer of yesterday’s mashed potato, slices of onion, mayonnaise and generous lashings of salt and pepper. This is grilled and then washed down, according to Kelly, with the “nearest mug of beer”.

A bowl of creamy mashed potatoes sits on a round wooden board, topped with a few specks of black pepper. A small wooden spoon with a bit of potato rests beside it. In the background are a folded green cloth napkin and a small pepper shaker on a light wooden surface.

The mashed potato sandwich was dubbed the “greatest man sandwich in the world” by Gene Kelly | Credit: Getty Images

12. Mock crab

What to do if you enjoy lovely fresh crab, but they are out of season? One answer is to use mock crab, so named because it makes something of a mockery of real crab. It is made from cheese, olives, creamy butter, paprika, mustard and – the main ingredient – anchovy paste. Surely, it is best just to wait until crab is back in season and make a different type of sandwich in the meantime.

13. Spaghetti

Now, the spaghetti sandwich can be a scrumptious, messy treat. That does not apply to this 1931 version published in a newspaper in St Louis, Missouri. Here’s some breaking news: it’s horrible. The cold, sauce-less spaghetti is beaten into a paste alongside a hard-boiled egg, onion, parsley, mayonnaise and a sardine, then spread on well-buttered raisin bread.

Luckily, this recipe appeared at the time of the Great Depression, so Americans may have struggled to get all the ingredients together. Even if they did, hopefully they had more sense than to use them on this sandwich.

14. Orange peel

The name says it all: orange peel, with the sandwich staple of mayonnaise, on wholemeal bread. This texture and taste oddity comes from a 1921 recipe book titled The Business of Being a Housewife. Was this particular housewife’s business to pick incongruous ingredients for a sandwich when there are countless other fillings available? If so, mission accomplished.

A slice of whole‑wheat bread sits beside a whole orange and a halved orange showing its bright, juicy interior, all arranged on a plain white background.

A recipe for an ‘orange peel sandwich’ is included in this housewives’ recipe book from 1921. Spoiler alert: it didn’t catch on | Credit: Getty Images

15. Grapefruit and sardine

This is not to say that fruit and fish cannot make for a good pairing, with the sweetness and zest of the former complementing the seafood. At its most basic, all lovers of fish and chips will know that their battered cod can be boosted by a squeeze of lemon. But when mixing together grapefruit and sardine into a sandwich, surely all you get is an aftertaste so bitter that every bite is accompanied with a wince.

16. Chicken aspic

Aspic – a gelatine made from meat stock and set into a jelly – has been responsible for some of the strangest-looking foods in the recipe books of the last century. A cursory image search and you’ll find a collage of wholly unattractive cakes of sludge-like jelly with meats and vegetables floating inside.

It’s had several periods of popularity, and it was during one of these that this sandwich from 1909 was created. Shredded chicken is set inside an aspic made of chicken stock along with some herbs. The truth is that it might taste alright, but if we eat with our eyes first, then aspic will always struggle to make a good impression.

Three rectangular pieces of pale aspic sit on a white surface, each showing strands of meat suspended inside the gelatin. Two parsley leaves rest on top as garnish, with whole black peppercorns scattered around.

Jellied chicken was a (rather visually unappetising) sandwich filling in the early 1900s | Credit: Getty Images

17. Olive and pineapple

The combination of olive and pineapple is a little contentious, especially whether they belong together on the top of a pizza. Few would disagree that those two ingredients make for a strange alliance in this ‘sandwich’ from 1937, though.

The filling is made from olives, cottage cheese, raisins and cream, which is smeared not on bread, but two pineapple rings. It looks unappetising, it’s tricky to hold and everything spills out with each bite. Let’s stick with the Hawaiian pizza, shall we?

18. ‘Valentine’s’

This was meant as a treat for 14 February, but as it comes from a book called 1001 Sandwiches (published 1936), there are plenty of preferable options to this multi-layered mess. The first layer – on bread cut into heart shapes – is egg mayonnaise, the second is chopped olives, and the third is raspberry jam.

The icing on the cake of this sandwich is, well, icing, made of cream cheese and more jam to give the whole thing a pink frosting. The finished product resembles a cake; the taste does not. Your valentine will not thank you for making this sandwich for them.

Six small heart‑shaped sandwiches with a red filling are arranged in a neat circle on a white plate.

What says ‘Happy Valentine’s Day’ better than making your loved one a heart-shaped cake that combines jam, olives and egg mayonnaise? | Credit: Getty Images

19. Hoyt

The previous entry on the Valentine’s Sandwich suggested that there were 1,000 better options in 1001 Sandwiches from 1936. If the Hoyt is any indicator, though, that may not be the case. Blue cheese and chilli sauce are mashed together and sandwiched in between crackers, which are then smeared with peanut butter. The only benefit of using crackers instead of bread is that the Hoyt is small, although some may argue it therefore does not constitute a sandwich at all.

20. Onion and mayonnaise

Admittedly, this does not sound like it belongs on this list: onion and mayonnaise are two standard features of many beloved sandwiches that work well together. Yet the 1927 version found in Salads and Sandwiches has a glaring problem. To make it, the onion is soaked in water and dipped in vinaigrette, before going on buttered bread. As for the mayonnaise: there is none. The recipe suggests adding corned beef, but there is no mention of mayonnaise at all.

21. Roujiamo

As the legend goes, the 4th Earl of Sandwich did not want to step away from the card table one night in 1762 and so asked a servant to bring him two slices of bread with some beef in the middle. And so, the sandwich was born. While the veracity of this story has been disputed, there is no question that his name forevermore became associated with the snack.

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This does mean, however, that much-older roujiamo from China – where meat, usually pork, is seasoned with spices and shoved in a crispy flatbread – can be overlooked. It certainly sounds like a sandwich, and its origins go back well over 2,000 years, long before the card-playing earl. This isn’t a strange sandwich, but it does deserve some recognition.

Authors

Jonny WilkesFreelance writer

Jonny Wilkes is a former staff writer for BBC History Revealed, and he continues to write for both the magazine and HistoryExtra. He has BA in History from the University of York.

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